JIŘÍ JEŽEK A LUKÁŠ KAŇKA (ed.)

Transkript

1 COMPETITIVENESS AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SMALL TOWNS AND RURAL REGIONS IN EUROPE JIŘÍ JEŽEK A LUKÁŠ KAŇKA (ed.) PILSEN 2011

2 University of West Bohemia in Pilsen Centre for Regional Development Research Husova 11, Pilsen, Czech Republic THE PUBLICATION IS OUTPUT OF THE MINISTRY FOR REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROJEKT NR. WD COMPETITIVENESS OF THE SMALL TOWNS IN CZECH REPUBLIC Book reviewers: Ing. Jiří Dušek, Ph.D. Doc. Ing. Jan Sucháček, Ph.D. ISBN Published at University of West Bohemia, 2011

4 Small towns attractiveness for living, working and doing business. Case study the Czech Republic Introduction, aim and methodology Jiří Ježek During the last years small towns problem has become not only in the Czech Republic a topic of many discussions where not only academics (sociologists, urban planners, geographers and economists), but also politicians take part in. The aim of this paper is to introduce international professional community with a sum up of results of the extensive empirical research of inhabitants of the Czech Republic which took place in a period within the project Competitiveness of small towns in the Czech Republic, which is financed from the resources of the Ministry of regional development of the Czech Republic. The paper results from a representative questionnaire investigation of the Czech Republic inhabitants, which took place in a year 2007, and where 1889 people were inquired. Small town What is a term small town all about? It is quite difficult to define the term. Usually it is defined as a settlement which is a transformation between a rural and an urban type of the settlement. The European conference about small rural towns which was organized in a year 2005 in Austrian Retz showed that a size determination of the small towns is different in particular European Union countries. The conference participants agreed only on an upper size limit of the small towns 20 thousand inhabitants. E.g. Agnieszka Kwiatek-Soltys states that a small town is a seat of the urban type with less than 20 thousand inhabitants; it forms a very heterogeneous set from a point of view of the size as well as from a point of view of demographic development and functions they hold in the settlement system. Other precise characteristics of the small towns can be minimum population density (70 inhabitants/ha) or maximum 15 % of economically active inhabitants in agriculture. In the Czech Republic the small towns are considered the settlements with 3 20 thousand inhabitants. In 2010 there were 336 small towns in the Czech Republic with approximately 2,4 million inhabitants (23,2 % of inhabitants). Table 1: Size categories of the small towns in the Czech Republic Size category Number of towns Source: Czech Statistical Office, Prague

5 Figure 1: Small towns in the Czech Republic Source: Czech Statistical Office, Prague 2010 Development of the small towns in the Czech Republic from the long-term perspective number of the population development in a period The long-term development of the settlement system of the Czech Republic is characterized by a decrease of the population in rural settlements and in the smallest towns; on the other hand the population in big cities (more than 100 thousands inhabitants) and in middle size towns (20 50 thousand inhabitants) has increased. If we have a look at the category of the small towns, it keeps a relatively stable position. A number of inhabitants living in this size category of the settlements have stayed almost constant, so the small towns can be specified as a stability element especially in a case of the rural settlement system. 5

7 Ideal place for living, working and doing business on the basis of a questionnaire investigation of the Czech Republic inhabitants Ideal place for living What are the Czech Republic inhabitants ideas about the ideal place for living and working? The most preferred places for living (in a case of the interviewees free decision possibility) are the settlements of a rural character (villages). That were the answers of more than 1/3 people inquired (33,7 %). At the same time most of them would prefer the village nearby the middle sized town (13,5 %) or the metropolitan (big) city (9,8 %). Only 7,1 % of people inquired mentioned a village nearby the small town as the ideal place for living, and only 3,3 % mentioned the village in the pure rural settlement. Figure 4: Ideal place for living, working and doing business from the point of view of the Czech Republic inhabitants. Ratio of answers is in %. Source: Own survey, 2008, n = 1889 people inquired 21,5 % of the inhabitants of the Czech Republic prefers as the ideal place for living the middle sized town ( thousand inhabitants) and 16,7 % prefers metropolitan (big) city. The small towns as the ideal places for living are preferred by 28 % of inhabitants of the Czech Republic. The empirical research destroyed a hypothesis that the people in the case of their free decision possibility would prefer rather metropolitan (big) cities or the middle sized tows and that the small towns will not have the perspective in the future. On the contrary, the research showed that the Czech Republic inhabitants have significantly different ideas about their ideal place for living and that the small places play the significant and doubtless role. 7

8 Competitiveness and sustainble development of small towns and rural regions in Europe Settlement system stability do the inhabitants want to stay in the place of the current permanent residence? The research also showed that almost 2/3 of people inquired the Czech Republic inhabitants are satisfied with their current permanent residence, so they do not suppose that they would remove to the other place. It was the opinion of 61,7 % of people inquired. Approximately every fifth inquired person thinks that he will not enthrone in his town. Approximately the same ratio of the people inquired stated that they had not thought about such the question or they did not know the answer. The most unsatisfied people were the young people. As it is showed in the figure 5, the size of the place of their current permanent residence does not influence a lot their readiness for migration. It is a proof of not only generally indicated low migration measure of the Czech Republic inhabitants, but also a relative stability of the current settlement system. Figure 5: Answers responses: Would you like to enthrone in the place of your current permanent residence? According to the size of the place of their current permanent residence (in %) 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% I do not know, I have not thought about it Yes Source: Own survey, 2008, n = 1889 people inquired Figure 6: Answers responses: Would you like to enthrone in the place of your current permanent residence? According to the inquired persons age reached (in %) Source: Own survey, 2008, n = 1889 people inquired 8

9 Ideal place for working and doing business The results of the empirical research show that almost 2/3 of inhabitants of the Czech Republic have the idea of the ideal place for working and doing business connected with the middle sized town ( thousand inhabitants) or the metropolitan (big) city. The small town would prefer only 22,6 % of inquired people (mostly the small town nearby the big city). The middle sized towns and metropolitan (big) towns are preferred mostly by young people, people with higher education and the inhabitants of the middle sized towns and metropolitan (big) cities. Especially the inhabitants of the metropolitan (big) cities and middle sized towns can not imagine to work or do business in the smaller sized town. The small towns as the places for working and doing business are preferred mainly by the inhabitants who live there, older people and seniors and people more often than not with primary or secondary education. The research showed that the imagination about the ideal place for working and doing business is much more crystallized and is to the benefit of rather bigger towns. Migration motives The research showed that the Czech Republic inhabitants have different reasons for a potential removal or a change of their permanent residence. The most important role between them plays a place of work factor (occupation) 27,5 % answers. The next are family reasons (22,3 %), quality of living (10,7 %) and environmental quality (10,5 %). These factors form approximately 3/4 of the factors. The place of work (occupation) as the most significant incentive of the removal was stated by the inhabitants of bigger municipalities and the small towns. The inhabitants of the small municipalities and the small towns mentioned the place of work as the most important incentive of their potential removal. The work is the most important reason to remove especially in a case of young people and the people of the middle age (middle age generation). After the 40-ties this reason significantly comes down. On the other hand the age is the reason why the family factor, environmental factor and the do not like it here factor come up. 9

10 Figure 7: Reasons for the potential removal depending on the size of the place of the permanent residence. Ratio of answers is in %. Source: Own survey, 2008, n = 1889 people inquired Figure 8: Reasons for the potential removal depending on the age of the people inquired. Ratio of answers is in %. Source: Own survey, 2008, n = 1889 people inquired 10

11 Summary and conclusion Competitiveness and sustainble development of small towns and rural regions in Europe The empirical research showed that the inhabitants in the Czech Republic perceive the small towns relatively in a positive way, mostly from a point of view of their living. The small towns are frequently labelled as pleasantly small, scenic, suburban and attractive for living. On the contrary they are perceived as more often than not stagnant, far-off, living their own lives and also less attractive for working and doing business. The research proved that the small towns keep their unsubstitutable place in the Czech Republic settlement system and that it is possible to expect their more likely positive development. The most significant problems can be expected in the small towns, which are situated in peripheral locations, especially in so called internal peripheries on the boundaries between single regions, which have been confronted with emigration since 80-ties of the last century. In despite of the mentioned above, it is necessary to deal with the topic of the small towns also in the future, and to help them to provide their future. Not only because they make up the significant part of the Czech identity. References [1] Český statistický úřad, odbor regionálních analýz a informačních sluţeb v Plzni, 2008, [2] Demografická ročenka České republiky [online]. ČSÚ Praha. [cit ]. [3] Jeţek, J. et al Budování konkurenceschopnosti měst a regionů v teorii a praxi. Plzeň, Západočeská univerzita v Plzni, 269 s. [4] Města a městyse v ČR. ČSÚ Praha. [online]. Praha: ČSÚ. [cit ]. [5] Vaishar, A., Frantál, B Geografie malých měst Bulletin grantového projektu GAČR. Brno: Ústav geoniky Akademie věd ČR. 112 s. Author RNDr. Jiří Ježek, Ph.D. University of West Bohemia Pilsen Faculty of Economics Centre for Regional Development Research 11

21 Mobility and lifestyle of small town inhabitans Vladimir Drozg Abstract The paper deals with the question how does the place of residence influence mobility and how is mobility part of daily activities of the population in small and big towns of Slovenia. For better explanation of the question four types of lifestyle has been defined: from very mobile with a wide home-range to less mobile with the small home-range. It can be seen that there is no big difference in mobility of inhabitants of small and big towns. Key words: Mobility, small town, life style, Slovenia 1 Introduction How do small towns differ from larger ones? What makes them different? An economic geographer would in such case think of the volume and type of functions; an urban geographer about typology of objects and ground plan forms; while a social geographer might think about the lifestyle. Anyway, how does the way of life in small towns really differ from larger towns? And how can one instrumentalize such differences, translate them into an empirical form and make them readable? The term small town was first used for towns of a certain size, measured with the number of inhabitants and the respective level of centralization (Vrišer 1969). In Slovenia, small towns are those that have less than 15,000 inhabitants. The content of this term has changed until today; small towns now offer a specific residential environment and a limited number of urban functions. They are primarily places of employment, usually with one economic activity or factory only; they serve as centres of provision and services, but with a limited offer of goods and services. What makes them different from larger towns is the number of activities, which is much more limited in smaller towns than in larger ones; we thus believe that a part of small town inhabitants fulfills their daily needs outside of their place of residence for objective and subjective reasons; objective because there is a limited availability of work places and other activities; and subjective because small towns provide a limited offer of goods and services that majority of inhabitants needs daily or occasionally. For a certain part of small town inhabitants, a more limited number of urban activities thus serve as mobility generator. On the other hand, a limited number of urban activities could also cause a lower level of mobility for a certain part of small town inhabitants. This contribution thus wants to show mobility as an element of lifestyle for small town inhabitants. Mobility of inhabitants of larger towns was used for reference, as we believe there are differences in mobility of inhabitants of small or large towns. The following questions were asked: are small town inhabitants more mobile? Do they travel more and more often than the inhabitants of large towns? What is their main reason for travelling? Is the structure of travel (purpose, frequency, type of transport, time of travel) different in the case of small town inhabitants as compared to large towns? How does larger or smaller mobility of small town inhabitants relate to social characteristics? 21

22 2 Lifestyle and mobility Competitiveness and sustainble development of small towns and rural regions in Europe Mobility is becoming a very important feature of a modern lifestyle. We travel ever more frequently and to places further away, for which more time and money are needed. A higher level of mobility is definitely a consequence of dispersion of settlement and dispersion of social activities in the area; thus objective circumstances which introduce mobility as a form of adjusting to conditions in the environment, are seen as objective necessity. However, there is also the subjective moment that influences the larger level of mobility. The characteristics of an urban lifestyle include fulfilling the needs at different places, not only in the place of residence. The reason for this type of mobility is more subjective than objective; thus to a certain extent the reflection of lifestyle. One therefore needs to differentiate between mobility, related to fulfilling the existential needs (such as daily commute) and mobility, related to fulfilling other needs that are reflected in lifestyle. Lifestyle is a relatively stable, whole and routine way of human performance (Burzan 2005, 105). Sociologists see lifestyle as a consequence of individual s social characteristics. However, we cannot attribute all forms of daily performance only to social characteristics, such as social, material and cultural capital, as described by P. Bourdieu (Bourdieu 1978). Instead, it is believed that a part of individual s daily life depends on the place of residence and other locations, where the individuals fulfil their needs. The crucial word in this case is mobility, because it means two things: 1) the ability of covering distance in space and 2) journeys or the structure of covered ways. The first characteristic is objective as it mostly does not depend on the individual but rather traffic infrastructure and network. It shows as accessibility of location and the final destination. The second lists how often an individual leaves home, the distance, covered in one day (the whole journey as well as partial trips); the frequency of journey, choice of vehicle and what is perhaps most important; the purpose of the journey. We believe the latter being a reflection of the individual s lifestyle, because the mobility structure partly stands for personal choice and not only as a consequence of objective circumstances. The most common purpose of travel depends on the individual (excluding commuting), so does the choice on the distance, covered by such journey. This includes the term home-range that can also be seen as an element of lifestyle and consequently mobility. It marks an area, working area, lifestyle area within which the individual frequently moves (Pohl 2009, 63). The size of such home-range is definitely an element of lifestyle, because it to a certain extent depends on the choice of the individual regarding where to fulfil his/her needs. 3 Work method How does one judge if small town inhabitants are more mobile than inhabitants of large towns? What are the indexes that show differences in mobility? We compared the travelling habits of people with similar social characteristics yet with different places of residence; namely in seven small towns and two large towns. We selected towns, located in the same cultural-geographical area and those that can be found in the system of central towns with the same level of centralisation. This enabled us to neutralize the different level of social and economic development, as well as different living habits that might be a consequence of the cultural environment. Data was obtained from interviews with 341 persons, asked about time, place, purpose and duration of travel as well as type of transportation on a certain working day in the week. The questionnaire included 255 active inhabitants from Ptuj, Ormoţ, Slovenska Bistrica, Lenart, Radlje ob Dravi, Slovenske Konjice and Ţalec, as well as 86 inhabitants from Maribor and Celje. A more detailed interview was conducted with 22

23 31 people, providing more detailed data on their travelling habits. The applied method shows several imperfections; the most important being the size of the sample. One cannot say for sure, that the sample, used for the survey, can be seen as relevant. However, we noticed the answers becoming more and more similar, which make us believe that we have found the average. The second imperfection or deficiency is the selection of relevant indexes. No clear answer was found in literature to the question of whether it was possible to compare mobility only within the socially homogenous group of inhabitants (such as among youngsters or elderly) or within social characteristic. Experience from existing surveys shows the most relevant factors being those that influence the level of mobility; namely age and education (Otte, 2008). Given that one goal of the survey was also to analyse the level of mobility in relation to social characteristics, the decision was made to include a larger number of indexes, even though this makes the results more general. 4 Mobility of small town and large town inhabitants The following mobility indexes were considered: the number of journeys, the distance, time of travel and the type of transport. The following text presents some findings about the mobility of inhabitants in small and large towns. Average number of journeys There are more inhabitants of smaller towns that show a lesser number of journeys than their counterparts in large towns. This makes us conclude that mobility of inhabitants, measured with the number of journeys in smaller towns seems to be smaller than in larger towns. The largest share of inhabitants in smaller town makes 4 or 5 journeys per day; while this number goes up to 6-8 journeys per day in large towns. We have also considered partial-journeys. Table 1: The average number of journeys, performed in three days (in %) Up to and more Small towns (N = 255) Large towns (N = 86) The total distance of performed journeys Data on the distance of covered journeys shows that the inhabitants of small towns travel more to shorter and longer destinations than inhabitants of large towns. This can be partly explained through the proximity of activities that seem to be the most frequent destination (such as distance from the shop) and with the longer distance to the regional (employment) centre. The biggest part of small town inhabitants makes 6-8 km daily, while the biggest part of large-town inhabitants makes 9-30 km daily. Table 2: Average total distance of journeys, performed in one day (in %) Up to 5 km 6 8 km 9 12 km km 31 km and more Small town Large town Average time, spent in travel in one day Only those were considered who used a motorized vehicle for travel (car or public transportation). Given that the time of all daily journeys was considered, the values seem to be quite large at first glance. This shows that there are more inhabitants in small towns that spend 23

24 less time in travel than in case of large town inhabitants. The latter coincides with data on shorter journeys. A larger part of inhabitants that need the most time for daily travel falls onto several partial journeys, linked to transporting children to school and to children s afternoon activities. Table 3: Average time, spent for daily journeys (in %) Up to 60 min min min 120 min and more Small town Large town Type of transportation for daily commute to work This data was somewhat expected, but shows a relatively unsuitable and high level of dependence on personal cars in small (where there is no public transportation) as well as large towns. Table 4: The use of personal car and public transport for daily commuting (in %) Car Public transport Small town Large town Mobility of inhabitants in relation to the purpose of travel We tried to find the most common purpose of travel while considering the average number of all journeys, also partial ones, counted in three days of the week. There is no deviation in the order of travel purpose when comparing small town and large town inhabitants; one can only find differences in the ratio. Inhabitants of small towns travel more frequently because of purchasing provisions and getting to work; and less because of social contacts, recreation and culture. Table 5: Share of departures related to purpose (in %) Work Provisioning Recreation Social contacts Education and culture Small town Large town The reasons for visiting other larger town are similar. The largest share of inhabitants of small and large towns travel to large towns because of work, followed by getting provisions, social contacts and culture. Table 6: The most common reasons for visiting other (large) towns (in %) Work Provisioning Recreation Social contacts Education and culture Small town Large town The next table talks about lifestyle, too. Inhabitants of smaller towns travel to larger towns more often than inhabitants of larger towns, visiting other large towns. We believe this to be linked to a limited volume of activities in smaller towns, or the disparity between the needs (lifestyle) of inhabitants and the offer of services in small towns. 24

25 Table 7: The frequency of visiting other (large) town (in %) Daily Weekly Monthly Yearly Small town Large town The time of last arrival home For this question, the age group of years old was used. This indicator does not tell much about mobility but rather about the lifestyle. Do we make more journeys in the afternoon or in the evenings? This corresponds with individual s involvement in the working and living environment. The majority of small town inhabitants spend evenings at home, similar to inhabitants of large towns, only that the share of the latter is a little lower. Table 8: The time of last arrival home (in%) Before 6pm Between 6 and 8pm Between 8 and 10 pm After 10om Small town Large town Lifestyles according to mobility (of respondents) Lifestyles were defined by two indexes, the number of departures from home and the number of partial daily trips and distance, covered from home to the most remote location of journey. Four lifestyles were defined on the basis of this: - Very mobile with a large radius: a person of this type leaves home at least twice daily and makes at least three partial trips. He or she travels a minimum of 10km daily. This means that he/she spends more than 20 minutes daily travelling. - Less mobile with a small radius: the person with such lifestyle leaves home only once daily, when making two partial trips. The covered distance is shorter than 10 km which means that this person spends approximately 20 minutes travelling daily. - Very mobile with small radius: a person with this lifestyle leaves home at least three times daily, performing at least 2 partial trips but of shorter distance, usually amounting to less than 10km. This person spends at least 20 minutes travelling daily. - Less mobile with a large radius: a person with this lifestyle leaves home twice or less daily, while at the same time performing at least three partial trips of at least 10km, spending more than 20 minutes in traffic. 25

26 Lifestyle Very mobile with large radius Less mobile with small radius Very mobile with small radius Less mobile with large radius Table 9: Lifestyles and indexes Number of daily departures Several (3 and more) Travelled distance large (10 km and more) Time in traffic More than 20 min Few (1 or 2) little (to 10 km) to 20 min Several (3 and more) little (to 10 km) to 20 min Few (1 or 2) large (10 and more) More than 20 min Values that determine the individual lifestyle are mean values of all answers. The latter can be seen as methodological deficiency, because travelled distances in towns are shorter than in the urbanized rural areas - even though we are only talking about a mobile lifestyle, we could assign a less mobile lifestyle to a certain person. We thus considered two different indicators for distance and time, spent for travelling in the case of small and big town. Lifestyle of small town inhabitants regarding mobility One of the central questions in this analysis is whether the small town inhabitants are more mobile than the inhabitants of large towns? One would expect to find more mobility in smaller towns because one can only fulfil certain needs in large towns. On the other hand, it is very likely that due to size and bigger dispersion of activities, the inhabitants of large towns need more time and more frequent travel for fulfilling their needs. Results show the share of mobile lifestyle in large towns being bigger than in small towns, even though differences don t seem to be very large. They are larger in the length of the journey than in their frequency, which can be explained as a result of general mobility; daily migrants in the case of small towns; and migrants in regional or suburban settlements. Small towns show a predominance of a less mobile lifestyle, where one should also mention that the share of inhabitants, living a less mobile lifestyle is found in a larger radius than in case of large towns. Table 10: Location of residence regarding lifestyle (in %). Lifestyle Small town Large town Very mobile with a large radius Less mobile with a small radius Very mobile with a small radius Less mobile with a large radius Lifestyle of small town inhabitants regarding gender When looking at gender, there are hardly any differences between lifestyle of people, living in small or large towns. Large towns show slightly larger numbers in mobility of women, which 26

27 can be linked to a larger share of partial journeys, made by women in large towns. It needs to be explained that only the active part of the population was considered. Lifestyle Table 11: Gender of respondents according to lifestyle (in %). Very mobile with a large radius Less mobile with a small radius Very mobile with a small radius Less mobile with a large radius Lifestyle of small town inhabitants according to their age Small town Large town m ţ m Ţ Age is according to many lifestyle researchers one of the most relevant indexes (Spellenberg 2007, 190), which is also proven by this survey. When considering age, comparison of mobility in small and large towns does not differ much, even though differences matter in individual age categories. Mobility among the young population differs a lot, but we link this to the daily commute to the place of education. Mobility of mid-life agers in small and large towns tends to be quite similar. The older population tends to be more mobile in large towns than in small towns. Table 12: Age of respondents according to lifestyle (in %). Lifestyle Very mobile with a large radius Less mobile with a small radius Very mobile with a small radius Less mobile with a large radius Small town Large town =20 to 44 years old, 2= 45 to 64 years old, 3= 64 years and older Lifestyle of small town inhabitants considering activity Activity and lifestyle are closely linked. There are large differences within the group of the active population in terms of mobility even if one doesn t consider the part of the population that is supported by somebody else (people in retirement). The most mobile tend to be private entrepreneurs, the least mobile public servants. Differences, related to the place of residence are mainly the consequence of daily commute; mobility in the category other employees in the urbanised countryside and suburbs is thus bigger than in towns that provide working places in vicinity. 27

28 Table 13: Activity of respondents according to lifestyle (in %) Lifestyle Very mobile with a large radius Less mobile with a small radius Very mobile with a small radius Less mobile with a large radius Small town Large town Conclusions 1=private entrepreneurs, 2=other employees, 3=public servants, 4=people in retirement One can make the following conclusions on mobility and lifestyle of small town inhabitants out of the presented material: mobility of small town inhabitants does not differ much from mobility of people, living in large towns, even though data shows on average a slightly smaller share in case of small towns. Furthermore, the share of mobile lifestyles within the inhabitants of large towns tends to be larger than in case of small town inhabitants. These results show the place of residence as a relevant element of lifestyle. A more detailed comparison of lifestyles of individuals with equal social characteristics but in different places of residence shows their lifestyle to be determined by distance from centres of provision and employment, which shows especially in time, spent in traffic on a daily level. We believe this to be a result of connectivity between social and physical features, confirmed by space as a relevant element or modifier of the social sphere. Lifestyle is an intertwinement of social factors and place of residence. Literature [1] Cohen Daniel (2011) Tri predavanja o postindustrijski druţbi. Ljubljana. [2] Otte Gunnar (2008): Sozialstrukturanalysen mit Lebesstilen. Wiesbaden. [3] Schmidt-Laubner Brigitta (2010): Mittelstadt. Frankfurt. [4] Vrišer Igor (1969) Mala mesta v SR Sloveniji. Inštitut za geografijo Univerze v Ljubljani. Ljubljana. Author Dr. Vladimir Drozg University of Maribor, Faculty of Arts Department of Geography 28

29 The Role of Health Tourism in the Hungarian Small and Medium Sized Towns Introduction János Csapó, Antal Aubert, Gergely Marton One of Hungary s leading tourism products is health tourism which plays a highlighted role in the life of numerous settlements. The product itself can practically be found in the complete area of the country apart from the mountainous and hilly areas creating a really high quality natural resource for Hungary. Based on this phenomenon, health tourism is one of the most important factors and priority for the tourism industry of Hungary and especially for its tourism development in the past and the future as well. The aim and major objective of our work is to provide a comprehensive picture on Hungary s health tourism, further on position this tourism product in the Hungarian settlement structure especially concentrating on the small and medium sized towns. We also would like to analyse whether the development of this tourism product could really provide a real economic perspective and an economic outbreak point or not, since usually spa developments are handled as a redeemer for tourism development which in numerous cases led to the total bankruptcy of the investing settlement. We also would like to present such a classification which deals with the Hungarian small and medium sized towns from the point of view of health tourism. Methodology During our researches we used both primary and seconder methods as well, which were harmonised during the analysis process. Out of the primary sources we would like to highlight the database created by the authors concerning all the settlements of Hungary, which projects 20 factors from the point of view of tourism to each settlements (more than 3000). Concerning its methodology it represents the supply and demand factors in a 50-50% basis. Among the applied indicators we find the guestflow statistics, the number of service providers considered in tourism, the attractions connected to the given settlements, the National Parks, and the spas and climatic medical places on the different levels. The basic data was taken from the qualifier organisations, the Central Statistical Office, the Regional Marketing Directorates and from the primary surveys. Totalling the indicators of the database with mathematical and statistical methods the positions of the given settlements considering tourism can easily be determined and further on their correlation to each other can be highlighted as well. From the seconder methods we should mention the former health tourism professional literature mainly from the Hungarian tourism experts, primarily focusing on the publications dealing with urbanisation issues, towns and town standardisations. According to our point of view the results achieved are capable to demonstrate the impacts of tourism in the advancement and development of the Hungarian settlement system. 29

30 The Overall Positions and State of the Hungarian Health Tourism The attractions and endowments of health tourism in Hungary are outstanding in a worldwide perspective as well: the allocation of the Carpathian Basin, the high values of the geothermic gradient and the quality of the host rock all contribute to its outstanding positions (AUBERT A. CSAPÓ J. 2004; MICHALKÓ, G. RÁTZ, T. 2010). As ÁCS, P. and LACZKÓ, T. (2008b) states Hungary is the 5 th most important country in the world with medical and thermal water resources. As a consequence of the mentioned physical geographical factors more than 80% of the total area of Hungary is capable for health tourism investments and developments supplying nearly 1300 thermal springs out of which the qualified medical waters are 147 altogether (ÁCS P. and LACZKÓ T. 2008a) which is utilised by 56 medical hotels and 70 qualified medical spas (OGYFI 2008). Due to this phenomenon the number of settlements with spas is prominently high (Figure 1). Figure 1: The spatial allocation of spas in Hungary Source: VITUKI, 2005 According to the most recent surveys the number of the spas in Hungary exceeds 180 which is again a prominent value even in the international perspective. Based on their services, quality, size and attractiveness according to their importance the spas can be classified into international, national/regional and local categories. (ORSZÁGOS EGÉSZSÉGTURIZMUS FEJLESZTÉSI STRATÉGIA (NATIONAL TOURISM DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY), 2007). The certain spas show huge alterations in Hungary concerning their supply and infrastructural background from the classic spas with only one pool to the aquaparks providing numerous and different kinds of pools with experience elements. Further on the certain units are not 30

31 bounded to a minimum or a maximum settlement size since the spa itself does not necessarily mean an elementary settling factor when creating the tourism product or during its development. When analysing the health tourism product, according to ÁCS, P. and LACZKÓ, T. (2008a), health tourism disposes numerous advantages compared to other branches of tourism which of course will play an important role in the tourism industry of the analysed small and medium sized towns as well: The negative effect of seasonality prevails much less; The average length of stay is longer; The capacity utilisation of commercial and private accommodations is better or higher; The tourism expenditure and so the receipts are 30-35% higher than at other areas or products of tourism. Past and Recent Development Stages of the Hungarian Health Tourism From the point of view of developments Hungarian health tourism and within that more exactly the spa culture possesses of rich historical traditions: among others we have to highlight Aquincum (and some other spas as well) from the Roman Ages, the spas established by the Turkish or the spa developments in the 19 th century which were focusing mainly on the spas of Buda at that time. During the socialist era numerous developments and investments were carried out not considering now their rational or irrational basis which decisively founded the country s present health tourism basis. We also have to mention that the majority of these spas are still functioning. After the change of the regime practically the development of health tourism became a priority only after the Millennium. Nevertheless the certain periods approach the tourism product and its development from different approaches but all of them is characterised by the fact that they defined health tourism only from a peripheric perspective. The investments were carried out first with national support and later on by European Union funds which can be classified into 4 major periods: The first Széchenyi Plan, carried out from , supported 71 investments with 36 billion HUF, 120 million euros. This support contained development only from the national budget. The most important factor for the developments was the regional development perspectives of the investments. Within the framework of the 1 st National Development Plan ( ) the investments were carried out with EU support but this time the approach for the developments has changed since the earlier sectoral and product centred developments were taken over by the spatially oriented ones. Within the framework of the developments among other the monument spas of Budapest have been renewed. (AUBERT, A. CSAPÓ, J. 2006) 31

32 Following this period the health tourism developments belonged to the New Hungary Development Plan (NDP II) which were also supported by EU sources and were also concentrating on spatially oriented principles. At present the New Széchenyi Plan (the re-interpreted NDP II with new priorities) is in effect which appoints the development priority from a more complex perspective as health industry but here we have to state that the present plan mainly concentrates on the services development. The effects of the passed off and present health tourism developments are rather differentiated both from the economic or tourism perspective. Numerous new spas were established, the branch was modernised, the commercial and private accommodations were also established but on the other hand in many cases as a result of the not so adequate planning process or the abrupt market processes we can also highlight numerous negative processes. We classify to this category the contention to the guests within settlements in a small geographical proximity, or that the local governments often became bankrupt due to the over-investments or the frequent change of the owners derived from the wrong decisions taken by the managements of the health tourism units. The Role of Health Tourism in the Small and Medium Sized Towns The relation and interaction system of health tourism and within this tourism product the different kinds of spas is multiple. Numerous settlement geography researches and town standardisations attribute an outstanding role for the analysed tourism product its impacts on towns: Among the functional town types of BELUSZKY, P. (2004) we can find the category of the so called Holiday or spa towns. During its characterisation the author describes tourism as almost the only function for town development and as an example, among other, he highlights Hévíz. PIRISI G. (2009) in his standardisation created decidedly to small towns as a sub category of the so called economic centres mentions the spa towns which possess well described statistical indexes as well (significant number of guest nights, high employment in tourism, strong non-profit activity). The raison d étre of the featured town class is also strengthened by the work of PIRISI G. and TRÓCSÁNYI A. (2011) dealing with town development in which they characterise as a colouring element the appearance of this type of towns in the Hungarian town structure. Analysing the settlement shaping processes BELUSZKY, P. and SIKOS T. T. (1982, 2008) also highlights that the cluster formation function of those villages and spa settlements which possess an important tourism background have been so accentuated that it resulted in an independent settlement type (the research categorised 38 parishes of 4 clusters to this category). They also stress that in the case of settlements grouped into other settlement categories, the tourism function, rural tourism and recreational role is present as well. In the recent years many of these settlements achieved the town rank due to their tourism functions and so now they have become small sized towns (Gárdony, Hévíz, Harkány, Velence). Concerning the historical dynamics of the town network, the tourism function due to Keszthely and Siófok appears in the 1970s, then, between it receives a significant emphasis in the agglomeration spaces (recreational function) so with Balatonfüred there were 32

33 altogether 3 town rank settlements promoting the organisation of the tourism function (GYENIZSE P. LOVÁSZ GY. TÓTH J. 2011). In the two decades after the change of the regime when town pronounce gathered way much faster than earlier, the number of spa towns advances to 12 along Lake Balaton and in the agglomeration rings and settlement aggregations further small towns were born with recreational functions (Lajosmizse, Mórahalom, Rácvkeve, Mezőkövesd). Out of the health tourism centres numerous settlements have reached the criteria to become towns (Hévíz, Zalakaros, Hajdúszoboszló) which indicate the acknowledgement of the town developing impacts of tourism as well. According to the upper mentioned reasons, the raison d étre of the settlements with health tourism functions is out of question however it does not appear as an absolute characteristic in all settlements having such type of service background. Table 1 summarizes the basic quantitative indicators of the Hungarian settlement structure and the health tourism product indicating this strong correlation system. Table 1: The number of Hungarian spas in relation to the settlement network Hungary No. Number of settlements 3175 Number of towns 328 Number of spas 181 Number of spas in towns 139 Number of spas in small and medium sized towns 134 Source: Based on CSO data by MARTON, G Standardisation Criteria of the Reviewed Towns In order to determine the importance and role of health tourism within the scope of the small and medium sized towns of Hungary we determined 4 major types of criteria in the following order from the point of view of: 1. Demand; 2. Supply; 3. Attraction zone; 4. Function of the town. This next chapter intends to thoroughly analyse the detailed characteristics of the provided perspectives providing a standardisation method as well in terms of the characterisation of towns with a certain dominance or importance of health tourism. 1. Demand In order to investigate the demand side of health tourism concerning the small and medium sized towns of Hungary we have to state that it can be quite problematic since there are really huge differences on the demand side concerning guest flow. Towns with the smallest guestflow have only around 5000 guests/season (e.g. Sellye) while such towns as Hévíz produced guests/season in

34 So the spatial differences are quite significant within the country but in general we can state that the territorial differences are not characteristic of certain parts of Hungary, it is more connected to the amount of guestflow realised in the analysed cities. The demand can be derived from various aspects such as accessibility, infrastructure, service quality and the spatial allocation of the town as well. For spatial allocation Harkány provides a perfect example since after the civilian war on the Balkans broke out due to its bordering allocation the formerly realised 2 million guests soon fell back to and this number even nowadays unable to reach persons/season. This negative external situation caused an almost 20 years long fall back for the spa and for the town as well from which Harkány is unable to change so far. Figure 2: Hungarian Spa Towns With Significant Guest Flow (Dynamic Spas) (indicated with number of tourists and nights spent) 2. Supply Source: Based on CSO data, ed. by MARTON, G. (2011) According to the vast variety and supply of health tourism the International Spa Association differentiates between different kinds of spas, such as club spas, cruise ship spas, destination spas, medical spas, mineral springs spas, and resort or hotel spas. The association defines spa as places devoted to overall well-being through a variety of professional services that encourage the renewal of mind, body and spirit. Of course according to their physical resources, characteristics of the water, the infrastructure or the services etc. we can differentiate between a great amount of supply in Hungary as well. So the major groups of spas according to the major and primary characteristics are: 34

35 Curative or medical spas Wellness spas Monument spas (rich historical heritage) Mixed supply When analysing the types of spas we can also consider the so called aquaparks, cave spas and experience spas as well. It is also worth mentioning that in % of the guests were coming to any commercial accommodation with the aim of health tourism motivation. With a health tourism purpose 43% of the guests went to medical hotels and around 20% to wellness hotels. The analysed spas have a great variety and huge alterations concerning their infrastructural and services background which of course significantly will affect their guestflow as well. (MICHALKÓ, G. RÁTZ, T. IRIMIÁS, A. 2009; MICHALKÓ, G. RÁTZ, T. TÓTH, G. KINCSES, A. 2009) When analysing the types of spas we have to highlight that in Hungary we differentiate a special group of spas called monument spas which obviously possess and protect a rich historical and cultural heritage and values. In 2009 altogether 7 of these spas were situated in Budapest (Széchenyi, Rudas, Rác, Király, Gellért, Lukács, Császár) and 7 in the countryside (Gyula, Szeged, Nyíregyháza, Székesfehérvár, Balf, Eger, Abony). Hereby we also like to add that considering the western regions of Hungary the supply is outstandingly supported besides the domestic supply by the guestflow or inbound tourism from Western Europe (mainly Austria and Germany) remunerating apart from the geographical proximity the recent developments of these spas (Bük, Sárvár, Zalakaros). These spas are so to say filtering the possible guestflow from moving or traveling to any other parts of Hungary for health tourism reasons or motivations. 3. Attraction zone According to their attraction zone we differentiate between spas of international, regional and local level or importance. Out of the 181 spas Hungary possesses 11 international spas such as Bük, Harkány, Hajdúszoboszló, Hévíz or Zalakaros, 52 regional spas such as Igal, Kaposvár, Orosháza, Mezőkövesd or Siklós and 71 local spas such as Abádszalók, Hajdunánás, Hatvan, Sellye and Vác. In the eastern parts of the country Gyula, Hajdúszoboszló, Orosháza, Gyomaendrőd the indicators of guestflow, besides the strong internal supply, realises a significant amount of cross border visitors mainly from Romania but from Slovakia and Poland as well. 35

37 4. Function of the city According to the function of the city we differentiated two groups, namely those towns which have tourism as a monofunction in their economy (monofunctional spa towns) and those towns which have a complex supply out of which tourism plays an important role of course. In monofunctional spa towns health tourism is undoubtedly the catalyst of development, while in multifunctional settlements health spa facilities are among the synergic factor that contribute to economic development in general and tourism development in particular. (based on SMITH, M. and PUCZKÓ, L MICHALKÓ, G. and RÁTZ, T p. 2.) When we take into consideration the towns with the determining importance of tourism, we have to see that the tourism function totally determines the image of the city, its economy, the employment structure, the real estate characteristics and the related services background as well. As an example to this group we can mention Hévíz, Harkány, Bük or Hajdúszoboszló. In those towns which have a more complex economical and services background the spa plays only a partial role in the economy of the city for different reasons: in Kaposvár and Győr the spa plays as a supplementary tourism service, Szigetvár is a historical city with spa functions as well, Barcs is a border city with spa functions as well and Komló is a (former) industrial profile town with spa functions in Sikonda which is part of the town s outskirts. Conclusion Our paper tried to introduce and survey the role of health tourism in the Hungarian small and medium sized towns with a special attention on emphasizing the role of this tourism product in the Hungarian tourism market on a spatial and timely basis as well. During the research process we determined the concept of the small and medium sized towns and based on these results we carried out standardisation and classification groups of small and medium sized Hungarian towns which are involved in health tourism on different levels. Although from a geographical point of view the spa function is present in a determining amount of settlements (villages, towns and cities) of Hungary but the developments of the last decade and also depending from the geographical allocation their competitiveness was strongly diversified. The formation of the guest flow (guestflow of the spas, number of guest nights) confirms that the in the western and eastern regions of Hungary and particularly in the bordering areas the western and eastern oriented international guest flow renewed its activity while in the central parts of the country the dominance of the domestic visitors have remained. However the great number of spa developments and the relative geographical distance (or proximity) doubts the competitiveness of all the spas and their sustainability as well, but the research of this phenomenon would be the task of another survey. We have to stress that in a certain proportion of the analysed towns health tourism plays an important but not determining role so its development should also be handled as this tourism product is one of the branches promoting local economy and local population and not the one and only. 37

40 The Characteristics of Tourism in the Small Towns of Baranya County Abstract Nóra Gelányi, Mónika Ginzer Baranya County (Hungary) boasts over numerous famous, nationally and even internationally respected sights that can partly be found in the small towns with a common historical background, i.e. they are all connected to the Ottoman/Turkish occupation. Therefore, the characteristics of their tourism, as well as their future plans reflect and largely rely on this heritage. Key words: small towns, Baranya County, Turkish occupation, thematic route, thermal spa, castles, accommodation types 1. Introduction The authors primary motivation was to enhance former researches investigating the tourism forms of small towns (e.g. the appearance and role of ethnic minorities in the tourism sector GELÁNYI, N. GINZER, M ), as well as to introduce the role and importance of the concerned three small towns (namely Mohács, Siklós and Szigetvár), both on national and international level. The similarities and differences between the towns should also reveal the possible future trends and development directions each town could follow and adjust itself. The central issue of the study deals with the question, whether these towns are capable of applying their potential in tourism (historical heritage) or not. The utilized methods include the analysis of statistics (primarily that provided by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office, KSH), the scientific literature/publications, as well as the homepages of the concerned towns and associations (involving event charts, photographs, maps etc.). 2. Statistical-theoretical background The target area (Baranya County) lies in the Southern Transdanubian region, the central position is taken by the Mecsek Hill and Pécs, the county seat. (The investigated three small towns /Mohács, Siklós and Szigetvár/ are marked with a circle in Figure 1.) The natural borders of the county are represented primarily by rivers (the Danube in the east, the Drava in the south). The region unites several ethnic minorities (mainly German, Croatian, Serbian and Gipsy people), therefore it has got an outstanding cultural variedness. As far as tourism is concerned, among the Hungarian towns counting the most foreign visitors/tourist, there is only one to be found in the concerned area (Harkány), and the destinations of the min. 2-day tours do not include Southern Transdanubia at all! 40

41 Figure 1: Part of the Southern Transdanubian region together with the concerned small towns of Mohács, Siklós and Szigetvár Source: based on the publication of the Hungarian National Board of Tourism, ed. by GELÁNYI, N The characteristics of tourism are marked by the prominence of seasonality, i.e. the high season (spring and summer) is remarkably busy, though programmes are organized wholeyear-round. This seasonality is counterbalanced by the different cultures (folklore) present in the county. Since every settlement type is represented in tourism (from the tiniest village to the county seat), a complex background for tourism came into being, uniting and combining e.g. rural tourism, gastronomy, folk customs, handicrafts, dance events etc. Regarding the general data about the investigated small towns, they are to be found on the peripheries of the county (see Figure 1.), Mohács and Siklós lie relatively near to the Croatian border. The accessibility map of the target area (see Figure 2.) reveals the fact that the concerned towns are approximately in the same distance from Pécs (ca km away from the county seat). While Mohács can easily be reached by road (highway M6), Szigetvár is rather affected by the railway line heading towards the capital, Siklós is the nearest town to the airport of Pogány (operated only seasonally). 41

42 Figure 2: The accessibility of the target area Source: The general statistics of the small towns are displayed in Table 1., and were provided by the KSH from year Mohács has got the highest population; Siklós and Szigetvár are approximately on the same level. The reproduction rate and the domestic migration show a slight decrease, except for Szigetvár. The retired population takes nearly one third, while the children under 14 ca % of the towns inhabitants. The registered unemployed represent ca. 8%, Mohács having the largest proportion. The ethnic groups (data from the last census in 2001) consist of the Germans, Croatians, Gipsies and the Serbians, their ratio vary between 0.01 and 9.6%. The service sector plays an important role in all of the towns (ca. 60%), while the number of enterprises/1000 inhabitants takes a relatively high value (ca. 65%). Table 1: General data about the analysed small towns (2011) Aspects Mohács Siklós Szigetvár Population 18,884 inh. 9,732 inh. 10,868 inh. Reproduction -0.2% -0.7% -0.8% Domestic migration -0.4% -0.4% +0.3% Retired population 31% 33% 34% Registered unemployed 9% 7.7% 8.4% Children under 14 11% 14% 11% Ethnic groups (in 2001*) Germans 9.6% Croatians 4.7% Gypsies 2.4% Serbians 0.6% Croatians 3% Germans 2.1% Gypsies 0.01% Proportion of the service s. 65% 58% 59% Enterprises/1000 inhabit Gypsies 2% Croatians and Germans 0.7% * date of the last census, Source: based on KSH data, edited by Gelányi, N

43 The official information about the tourism of Mohács and Szigetvár reveal a rather mixed structure (see Table 2). The reason for Siklós absence from the table is that the official classification and regulation of the KSH does not consider elements of a given unit below the number of two, i.e. if there is only a single hotel in a given settlement, the Office does simply ignore it. Nevertheless, the homepages of the towns ensure insight into the various types of available accommodations. Table 2. Information about the presence of tourism in Mohács and Szigetvár (2010) Aspects Mohács Szigetvár Guest flow at commercial accommodations - foreign guests - domestic guests General length of stay at commercial accommodations - foreign guests - domestic guests Capacity of commercial accommodations 6,859 8,815 2,269 4, nights 3.1 nights 2.4 nights 1.8 nights 3 nights 3.1 nights 228 beds 451 beds Source: based on KSH data, edited by Gelányi, N As can be seen in Table 2., the commercial accommodations have a larger turnover in the case of Szigetvár (primarily due to its thermal bath and the larger accommodation capacity), and the proportion of domestic guests also play a more important role than in Mohács. Although there are differences between the general length of stay, the numbers are more or less in accordance with the national standards. Regarding the capacity of commercial accommodations, Szigetvár has got the double number of beds than Mohács. 3. Contrastive analysis of the small towns As mentioned above, the concerned three small towns are united on the basis of their history, since they were remarkable places of the battles fought between the Ottoman and Hungarian armies during the 16 th century. The remaining traditions, buildings, sculptures etc. enable this heritage to become an essential part of tourism. Therefore, the most prominent sights in these towns reflect their close relationship with the Turkish presence, as it is shown in Table 3. Some buildings are remnants of the original (the castles), some have been reconstructed and modernized (e.g. Ali pasha s Djami in Szigetvár), while some premises only remind us on the events of the past (e.g. Historical Memorial Church in Mohács). The novel sights, i.e. the thermal baths in Siklós and Szigetvár indicate the general aim to provide additional leisure time facilities and to find new target groups for tourism, i.e. moving from the classical cultural and heritage tourism towards spa, medical and in the case of Mohács active tourism. 43

44 Table 3. The most prominent sights in the concerned towns Mohács Siklós Szigetvár The Busó House Siklós Castle (cultural centre) Szigetvár Castle Various handicrafts The Malkocs Bej Suleiman Sultan s (e.g. pottery and wood-carving) Mosque/Djami Mosque/Djami Council House Catholic churches Council House Danube-Drava National Park Ali pasha s Djami (today Thermal Spa (River Danube) Catholic church) Water Mill Park of the Hungarian-Turkish Frienship National Memorial Site Thermal Spa Historical Memorial Church Dorottya Kanizsai Museum Source: based on the homepages of the towns edited by Gelányi, N The events being organized in the towns represent the manifold ethnic structure of the region on the one hand; and the Turkish heritage on the other (see Table 4.). The ethnic minorities play the most important role in Mohács, where the cultural fusion of four ethnicities takes place. As the list of events shows, folk dance festivals are present in every town, while the harvest and wine festivals are organized only in Mohács and Siklós, which are the centres of traditional wine-growing regions. Each town has got its own event remembering the past, though the internationally known Busó carnival of Mohács is the most prominent among them. The first carnival dates back to 1867, and welcomes ca. 50,000 visitors annually (BENEDEK, M. STARK, J. 2009). Further to this, it is the sixth best known, and third most popular festival in Hungary (SULYOK, J. 2010), and is member of the UNESCO World Heritage list since Unfortunately, the open-air musicals in Siklós and Szigetvár were organized only twice, due to the economic crisis the performances have been prolonged for an uncertain period of time. Table 4. The most famous events of the towns partly linked to the Turkish heritage Mohács Siklós Szigetvár Busó carnival Folk dance festivals Folk festivals Folk dance festivals Croatian Bean Cooking Festival Harvest and Wine festival St. John of Nepomuk Festival Harvest and Wine festival The Captain of the Tenkes open-air musical Source: based on the homepages of the towns edited by Gelányi, N Zrínyi Miklós Days and open-air musical Regarding the accommodation types and their capacity, Table 5. gives us a general overview. The structure of accommodations reflects the prominence of guest houses and pensions. The hotels have only one or two representatives in each town; their category varies between two and three stars. The joined maximum capacity takes the highest number in Szigetvár (see Table 2.), which is due to the relatively high number of tourist visiting the thermal bath allyear-round. Mohács lacks far behind the potential demand: visitors of the Busó carnival 44

45 belong primarily to the inhabitants of the vicinity (i.e. neighbouring counties), therefore the majority of tourists belong to the one-day trippers. Table 5. The available types of accommodation and their capacity (2011) Mohács Siklós Szigetvár Hotel (2 and 3 star category) 2 (142 beds) 1 (56 beds) 2 (96 beds) Guest house/pension Youth hostel Camping Other Source: based on the homepages of the towns, edited by Gelányi, N The structure of guest flow in the concerned cities shows a quite unique picture, since the settlements are primarily visited by pupils (within the frameworks of school class excursions) and elder pensioners coming from Germany and/or Austria. This special situation is due to the fact that the towns are famous for their history and historical buildings, and they also have thermal baths that attract people looking for natural remedy. The only exception is Mohács, where the so-called paprika tours take place. This kind of tour is part of an organized holiday, and happens like the following: basically German pensioners arrive by ship at Mohács, they rush through the town, travel to the county seat, Pécs by bus, they make a short sightseeing with a tour guide, then travel to Kalocsa, look at the Paprika Museum, and finally embark at the Danube s riverside. Unfortunately, the whole tour brings nearly no income to the service suppliers in Mohács, since the guests even have their lunch on the board of the ship Professionals claim, it would be much more profitable, if the Busó Carnival took place in the summer, when most of the tourists arrive in Mohács but of course, one cannot move a traditional, season-bound event to another date. Regarding the origin of tourists, the domestic guests are dominant in each town (with Szigetvár s leading position), and the number of foreign guests is outstanding in Szigetvár (mainly guests from Croatia). The towns had an important role around the 1990s, since the nearby Croatian border enabled Croatian citizens to generate a remarkable shopping tourism that has been completely stopped at the time of the Balkan Civil Wars. Nevertheless, the traditional guests returned after the crisis, though their motivation is directed towards the thermal spas, and not to the shops. Another fact is, that many Turkish tourists visit these towns, especially the National Historical Memorial Site (Mohács-Sátorhely) and the Park of the Hungarian-Turkish Friendship (Szigetvár). The construction of the latter was initiated and supported by the Turkish Republic, and it commemorates not only the huge battle and the death of Suleiman, but also accommodates the enemies sculptures right next to each other. In general, SZABÓ, G. (2006) claims that the majority of guests visiting Baranya County prefer Pécs and its closest vicinity including even Siklós, being part of the renowned wine-growing region. Mohács and Szigetvár would be unable to maintain their tourism (wine, gastronomy, active, spa and cultural tourism) without the presence of the county seat. 4. Developments and further plans in tourism Considering the economic processes and the political targets of the last decade, there were some initiations also affecting the tourism sector in the concerned three small towns. In the period , the sources of investments were provided by the National Development Plan (the Hungarian abbreviation is NFT) and the Széchenyi Plan. The priorities included 45

46 among others the development of spas, accommodations, health tourism and attractions. Within these frameworks, the hotel and spa in Szigetvár was improved, as well as its castle and castle museum was reconstructed (AUBERT, A. 2006). Nowadays, the National Tourism Development Strategy ( ) focuses on the constructive partnerships between the individual suppliers and tourism organizations/managements (AUBERT, A. /ET AL./ 2007). As a consequence of this, the new Széchenyi Plan together with European Union funds and the Norwegian Fund made it possible to realise some new improvements in the concerned area: Mohács (Picture 1) o New Reception Building at the National Historical Memorial Site (crownshaped reception building with café and exhibitions) o Water tourism base by the riverside of the Danube (new places for mooring, watercraft and bicycle rental; extension and renewal of the promenade) o Developments in wine tourism in Szőlőhegy (reconstruction of cellars, city vault and events square) Picture 1. New developments in Mohács Siklós (Picture 2) Source: o Cultural Centre of Siklós Castle (comprehensive renovation of the historic downtown, visitor centre) o Thermal Spa (new competitor of the nearby Harkány Medical Spa) o Siklós Card (supports local enterprises) 46

47 Picture 2. New developments in Siklós Szigetvár (Picture 3) Source: o Reconstruction and development of the Thermal Spa o Tourism Cluster of Southern Transdanubian Castles and Mansions (guaranteed programmes for families) (FUCSKÓ, H. 2011) Picture 3. New developments in Szigetvár Source: There is a new project being started in 2011 that aims at the creation of an Ottoman occupation cultural route, i.e. a thematic route between Mohács and Siklós. The initiation received more than 1.2 billion HUF subsidy, and unites the historic sights of the two towns already listed above (see Picture 4). The target of the cooperation is to produce complex package tours based on the historical heritage and the natural environment along the Siklós- Mohács axis (NAGY, É. 2011). The range of traditional activities (wine and cultural tourism, gastronomy) is going to be enhanced with different kinds of active tourism (especially in the area of the Danube-Drava National Park). 47

48 Picture 4. The area and the official logo of the thematic route between Mohács and Siklós 5. Summary Source: The three concerned towns in Baranya County (Mohács, Siklós, Szigetvár) are to be found on the periphery of the region, with their service sector relying largely on tourism. Though the historical heritage provides a stable basis for both national and international interest, there are fundamental deficiencies to be solved (AUBERT, A. BERKI M. HEGEDÜS, V. SZABÓ, G. 2007): because of the low capacity of accommodations, the infrastructure needs further development; additional services and programmes should be combined into complex packages and sold to a larger target group; a higher level of cooperation and management should be achieved with more efficiency; the programmes should emphasize the multicultural and natural endowments of the concerned area. Their tourism operated on the small scale has got the potential to become a reliable part of the service sector, and is capable of a constant development. Hopefully, the projects realized in the future will maintain and strengthen their unique characteristics, and ensure a modern way of introducing their image. Literature [1] AUBERT, A. BERKI M. HEGEDÜS, V. SZABÓ, G. 2007: Az idegenforgalmi helyzetértékelés elvei és módszerei. In: Aubert, A. (ed.): A térségi turizmuskutatás és tervezés módszerei, eredményei, Bornus Kft. Pécs, pp [2] AUBERT, A. (ET AL.) 2007: Fejlesztési stratégiák és modellek a térségi turizmusban. In: Aubert, A. (ed.): A térségi turizmuskutatás és tervezés módszerei, eredményei, Bornus Kft. Pécs, pp [3] AUBERT, A. 2006: A turisztikai nagyberuházások hatása Baranya megye idegenforgalmára. In: Aubert, A. (ed.): Desztináció-építés és menedzsment. Déldunántúli Turizmus Kiskönyvek, pp [4] BENEDEK, M. STARK, J. 2009: Fesztiválvilág. In: Turizmus Bulletin, XIII. évf. 3. szám, pp [5] FUCSKÓ, H. 2011: Hősök utódai kerestetnek Dél-dunántúli várak garantált programja. In: Turizmus Panoráma, XI. évf. 7. szám, pp

50 The role of the spas in the less developed regions in Slovenia case study: Moravske Toplice Spa Abstract Uroš Horvat Author presents the role of health resorts for the development of less development areas in Slovenia. Health resorts are one of the oldest kinds of tourist resorts and started to develop in Slovenia already in 18th centuries. Later, the health resorts became centres of highly qualified medical rehabilitation based on using of thermal or mineral water and modern medical treatments. The so called classical health resorts prevailed in Slovenia until the mid-1980s. The beginning of the 1990s marked an important turnabout in the development of health resorts in Slovenia. With the construction of modern facilities, some of health resorts have started to use thermal water for fun and experience in the so called thermal water parks, which are open throughout the year. The reorientation to mass tourism, based on recreation, healthy lifestyle, wellness etc., as well as spending of holidays in various types of accommodation have significantly increased the number of tourist visits in the so called recreation health resorts. These are usually located in less developed areas of the country, which means their importance is even greater for the employment of the inhabitants and the spatial and functional development of rural areas. In the end of the article (in the case study) the author is orientated especially on the development of the health resort in the Moravske Toplice spa (in NE Slovenia). Key words: tourism, health resort, spa, less developed areas, Slovenia. 1. Tourist development in Slovenia and its spas The tourist travels developed on the territory of the present-day Slovenia at the beginning of the 19th century. Among the early forms of tourism were visits to the karst phenomena and some spas. In the middle of the 19th century the railway between Vienna and Trieste made Slovenia much more accessible to visitors from cities of the Austria-Hungary monarchy. The railway to the west part of the country facilitated development of mountain tourism. The seaside tourism began to develop as early as the 19th century, but reached a more intensive phase in the beginning of the 20th century. In addition, in the period between WW I and WW II tourists were interested also in taking short trips around the country (Kresal 1996). The early 1960s represent a new stage in the development of modern tourism in Slovenia. The state promoted the modernization of the existing and construction of new tourist facilities. It also supported modernization of transport infrastructure. This was a period when started heavy transit flow of tourists from Western and Northern Europe towards the Croatian coast and forward to South-Eastern Europe. The relaxation of formalities at entry points to Yugoslavia helped as well, so in that period Slovenia became an important international tourist destination. The share of foreign tourists grew very rapidly; up to 47% (the majority of foreign tourists came from Germany, Austria and Italy). In addition to single destinations at the seaside and in spas, we see a development of winter sports tourism, business and congress tourism in the cities, and rural tourism in the countryside. Tourist visits reaches its peak in Slovenia in mid-1980s with over 9.2 million overnight stays. 50

51 No. of Overnight Stays Competitiveness and sustainble development of small towns and rural regions in Europe First half of the 1990s is a period of great changes in tourist flows, caused by the war on the Balkans that resulted in the breakup of former Yugoslavia. As a result of that changes Slovenia experienced worst times in modern tourist industry s history ever (Horvat 2005). That was the period of only 5 million overnight stays per year on average, which was less than in the period prior to year A major factor that also contributed to the low number of visitors was a drastic drop in the number of tourists from former Yugoslav republics. Their share, which was over 30% of all overnight stays in Slovenia in the 1970s and 1980s, dropped to only 6% in the 1990s (Horvat 2008). The stabilization of the political situation in the Balkans after the year 2000 signifies a renewed growth of tourism in Slovenia. In 2008 the number of tourists exceeds 3 million, and overnight stays exceeds 9.3 million, which is for the first time higher than in year Most tourists come from the neighboring countries (for the first time the country with the highest number of overnight stays is Italy, which is followed by Germany and Austria), but more and more tourists come to Slovenia also from more distant countries (GB, The Netherlands, Russia, etc.). The new direction of tourist development in Slovenia is based on the development of the following kinds of tourism: health and wellness tourism, coastal tourism, mountainous tourism, countryside tourism, business and congress tourism, cultural tourism, casino and entertainment tourism, ecological tourism, recreation tourism, adventure tourism, transit and excursion tourism. Fig. 1: Number of Overnight Stays per Type of Tourist Resort, Slovenia Year Health T.R. Seaside T.R Mountain T.R. Other T.R. Other Source: Horvat 2008, Vacation travels of tourists have been oriented particularly to four mayor tourist destination areas in Slovenia: to the Sub-Mediterranean (seaside) region, to the Alpine (mountain) region, to the health resorts (spas) of Eastern Slovenia, and to the mayor towns (other tourist resorts). Spas are one of the oldest kinds of tourist resorts and started to develop in Slovenia already in 18th and in the beginning of 19th century. They had developed around the springs of thermal and mineral water, mostly in the eastern part of the country. The world known health resort in Slovenia is Rogaška Slatina spa with over 400 years of tradition (its mineral water is unique in Europe in terms of the magnesium content, and in 19th century was served at the imperial court in Vienna and the papal court in the Vatican). After the WW II, several new springs of 51

52 thermal and mineral water were made fit for use through geologic drill holes, thus the area of spas was expanded to several new locations. Health and spa resorts in Slovenia were after the WW II primarily intended for the so called social tourism, and only after mid-1960s they started to be included into the international tourist offer more intensely. They became centers of highly qualified medical rehabilitation centers, based on the use of natural remedies and modern medical treatments. The so called classical health resorts prevailed in Slovenia until the mid-1980s. The beginning of the 1990s marked an important turnabout in the development of the spas in Slovenia. With the construction of modern swimming pools, some spas have started to use thermal water for recreation and fun. The so called thermal water parks have emerged with in-door and out-door pools which are open throughout the year. The reorientation into mass tourism, based on recreation, healthy lifestyle, wellness, etc., as well as spending of holidays in various types of accommodation, have significantly increased the tourist visits in the so called recreational health resorts. In the mid-1980s the Rogaška Slatina spa was the leading health resort in Slovenia (380,000 overnight stays), but with the faster development of other health resorts its significance began to decline. Such alterations in the development policy of some Slovenian health resorts, which are oriented mostly into recreational, had a great impact on the fact that Rogaška Slatina (with its emphasis on the medical-preventive services) was in the mid-1990s overtaken by other health resorts (Horvat, 2008). In 2009, the most important health resort was the Čateške Toplice spa (it was also the third largest tourist resort in Slovenia), followed by the Moravske Toplice spa and the Terme Olimia spa in Podčetrtek (Tab.1). Tab.1: Top-ten Most Important Tourist Resorts in Slovenia, 1971, 1986, Tourist Resort Overnight Tourist Overnight Tourist Stays Resort Stays Resort Overnight Stays 1. Portoroţ Portoroţ Portoroţ Ljubljana Ljubljana Ljubljana Bled Bled Čateške Toplice Rogaška Kranjska Slatina Gora Bled Bohinj Rogaška Moravske Slatina Toplice Izola Izola Izola Piran Bohinj Podčetrtek Koper 2 Čateške Kranjska Toplice Gora Maribor Ankaran Rogaška Slatina Ankaran Maribor Ankaran Slovenia Slovenia Slovenia % ,3 % ,8 % ,3 Source: Note (Type of Tourist Resort): 1 - Health T.R., 2 - Seaside T.R., 3 - Mountain T.R., 4 - Other T.R. and mayor towns. 52

53 2. Spas and their importance for the development of less developed areas in Slovenia Slovenians spas are mostly located in less developed areas in the north-eastern and eastern part of Slovenia. For that reason is their importance even greater for the employment of the inhabitants and for the spatial and functional development of rural areas. Among the most direct effects of tourist development is the employment in sectors that are directly related to tourism and hospitality, but on the other hand this also stimulated other non-agrarian activities and contributed a lot to the development of those areas. There is also a close interconnection between the economic and demographic development. The large economic power of settlements with spas constantly attracted people. The surplus of positions caused also intensive daily migration of workforce. It has a favorable influence on the structure of active population as well as on the age-structure of population in the surrounding settlements as well. At the same time it prevented an increase in emigration from the peripheral and relatively less developed regions. In the past, two types of tourist health resorts (spas) were developed in Slovenia (Horvat 2010): 1. The older spas, which had mostly started to develop in the 19th century, are nowadays mostly local multifunctional urban centers. Great economic power of health tourism created there several working posts and attracted population, so the former, mostly agrarian settlements, growth to small and middle towns with developed central functions. In that type we could include spas in following settlements in Slovenia: Rogaška Slatina, Radenci, Laško, Dolenjske Toplice. Tourism was the first non-agrarian activity in the settlement and other non-agrarian activities joined only at a later stage, including industry (as in Rogaška Slatina, Laško, etc.). Owing to their better infrastructure, such tourist places become more attractive for the placing of other urban activities and for the expansion of residential areas. The absolute number of tourism-related work posts in this settlements is high, but owing to the multifunctional economic development, these represent a relatively low share, which is in some cases only a bit more than 10%. On the other hand, multifunctional economic development with the intertwining of tourism and industry may also have negative effects in such areas. There is a possibility of ecological problems caused by industry, which clashes with the expectations of those who want to preserve the cultural landscape for attracting tourists. There is also a possibility of conflicting interests in terms of land-use, and consequently limitations may be imposed with regard to the expansion of individual activities. Finally, a greater variety of employment possibilities may result in a lack of willingness among the local population to work in tourism. Case-study Rogaška Slatina: From a once typically tourist site and one of the most important in Slovenia, Rogaška Slatina, after WW II, developed into a multifunctional urban center (with over 5,000 inhabitants and 2,000 working posts), in which industry took over the role of the dominating economic factor, while tourism became just one of the economic activities closely linked to health and the central tourist zone of the town (Horvat, 2001). 2. On the other hand in Slovenia developed also so called monostructured tourist resorts, such as Terme Olimia in Podčetrtek, Čateške Toplice, Moravske Toplice, where spas are mostly developed after WW II. Nowadays these settlements represent small local centers (with apx. lower than 1,000 residents) with developed central functions for their less developed agrarian surroundings. They are almost entirely dependent on the dynamics of tourist turnover, 53

54 changes in tourist flows and various trends shaping tourist demand. In addition, this monostructured centers offer also little choice to their residents in terms of employment (especially those with higher education). 3. Case study: Moravske Toplice spa Moravske Toplice is a small settlement and tourist resort (spa) in north-eastern Slovenia; 7 km from Murska Sobota. Its development is mostly based on the use of thermal mineral water, which was found in 1960, when they drilled for oil. Until that period, the settlement was typical agrarian settlement (with around 500 inhabitants in 100 households in year 1961), while the small share of the non-agrarian population has been employed in the near regional centre Murska Sobota. With the development of the spa, settlement began to develop intensively and slowly take over the role of an employment center in this part of Prekmurje region, which is characterized by depopulation and exceptionally high proportion of agrarian population (Horvat, 2009). For the reason of high economic and spatial development, the settlement in year 1994 (in the period of the reform of local self-government in Slovenia) became the center of the newly created municipality Moravske Toplice. Fig.2: Location of the Moravske Toplice Spa. Source: According the development of accommodation facilities and the dynamic of tourist visits, we can define the following phases of development of tourist resort in Moravske Toplice: 1. The period between 1960 and is the period of beginning of the development of tourist destination, which at the time not had the status of the spa. In the beginning was there only a swimming pool, which used the thermal mineral water with a temperature of C. During the period, they built several pools, restaurant, campground, bungalow buildings and indoor swimming pool, with which the season extended to the whole year. In 1970, there were about 400 tourist beds, most of them in the campsite and in the private accommodations (rented rooms, dwellings). Domestic visitors were mainly daily excursion guests. Between stationary hosts dominated tourists from Austria (in 1970 they represented 54

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